Entrepreneur ship Essay

Regardless the state of the country, one can realize that coffee is one of the most favorite products among American people. It has remained in the top positions for some decades. However, drinking coffee is not only the consumption of a product; it has become a daily activity. It is normal to hear this question when someone wants to meet up with one person: â€Å"do you want to get a coffee tomorrow and we can talk about†¦? † Any excuse is good enough to get a cup of coffee. The beginning of the coffee industry dates back to the 1960’s, when a man named Alfreed Peet felt the inspiration to create the first gourmet coffee shop (Peet’s Coffee). That inspiration came, between other reasons, because he grew seeing his parents ‘coffee business (Peet’s Coffee). He was living in Holland and later in Indonesia. After that, he went to California where he thought he had the necessary knowledge to start his own business. By doing that, Peet started to produce a richer and more complex coffee that the available coffee at the market (Peet’s Coffee). Because of his marketing strategy, motivation through employees and resilience to fall, Alfreed Peet was one of the most innovative and creative entrepreneurs of coffee industry. Some people think that entrepreneurs are different from everyone else since they think these people were born with a special ability that nobody else has. However, these people are what they are because they learn from experience, including inconvenient experiences. Peet reached a great success because he did it. Despite this level of success, Peet can still became a better brand by introducing an aggressive advertising, worldwide expansion, and improving the pricing system. Peet had the features that best define an entrepreneur. First, he had the vision to open a shop in an unfamiliar market, the coffee market. Vision is a characteristic that most of the entrepreneurs have (Boone and Kurtz 608). Entrepreneurs do not fall depressed when people tell them that their business will not run successfully. Instead, they trust in their intuition and continue until they get what they want (Kelly and McGowen 92). Along with vision, Peet had passion about his coffee. He did not think in becoming rich or famous, but making the best coffee he could. He knew the importance of enjoying the process rather than thinking about the outcome. Moreover, he had enough motivation to start his business and offer the best product and service. This is the most important factor that one person must have to get anything in his or her life. Some people do not pay enough attention to how important the motivation is to succeed in any field. When one is motivated, it is much easier to reach any goal. Time does not seem to go by when one feels a motivational force inside him. Furthermore, the motivation makes one enjoy whatever he or she is doing. Then, along with this enjoyment, the results come without the sense of effort. â€Å"Motivation is important simply because it allows you as a leader to meet and even exceed your own organizational goals† (â€Å"importance†). However, motivation is not enough if one does not spend time working. For this reason, Peet knew that dedication was important if he wanted to be successful in the coffee industry. He did not believe in luck, but in causality. Another reason why he was a successful entrepreneur was that he wanted to see the growth of his family? s coffee business. He wanted to continue what was started decades ago. Finally, the word â€Å"commitment†. To Peet, it meant to be persistence. If he wanted his dream to become a reality, he had to overcome big obstacles. It meant never giving up and to being congruent by taking action instead of just talking. Peet? s coffee should be an admired company because of its behavior towards employees and customers. Peet? s makes an effort in having a good workplace where employees must be prepared to create the great coffee that customers like (Peet’s Coffee). It has been proven that the performance of the employees is greater when they are in a comfortable and attractive environment. Moreover, Peet knows the importance of making his employees feel well. An employer should not only think of the employees as part of the company, but should also take into consideration their opinions and complaints. â€Å"Democratic leadership ordinarily produces higher member satisfaction and morale. It also results in higher quality decisions when members have as much or more knowledge than the leader regarding a particular problem† (Sharpe). The results of a company depend on the performance of the employees. Espinosa states that an important step is â€Å"to be a positive model as a leader. You’re supposed to be a good example for your members to emulate, and a person worth respecting. † Good team work is an essential part of any job because the best results are achieved when everybody goes in the same direction. Moreover, motivation is crucial to push people to get their goals. â€Å"Democratic leaders involve members in decision making either by reaching consensus or by using parliamentary procedure. They pursue open, trusting, follower-oriented relationships† (Sharpe). The relationship between Peet and his customers has also been excellent during the time that Peet’s coffee has existed. (Peet’s Coffee). This relationship is passed from parents to their children and grandchildren and it seems to be continuing for a long time. Besides, Peet’s company has developed different economic and education programs in order to collaborate with the growth of the countries that provide beans and leaves for his coffee (Peet’s Coffee). To summarize, Alfreed puts the emphasis on being a big family who plays on the same team. Every member of the team has different tasks to do in order to reach the same goals for Peet’s coffee, which are to make a profit, offer an excellent service to the clients, and of course, to enjoy while doing it. Peet knows that the world has changed in the last decades; therefore, he has adapted to the marketing changes along these years. At the beginning of his expansion, Peet started in a local place where the coffee market was becoming more popular. At that time, the marketing concept changed and the business’ owners started to offer the goods and services that their clients demanded in a higher quality than their competitors (Boone and Kurtz 380-381). Thus, Peet wanted to get customer satisfaction more than anything else. However, times changed and Peet had to adapt if he wanted to continue being successful. Peet spread out his stores to different states of the country such as California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington (Peet’s Coffee). Moreover, the last decades are characterized by some changes in marketing. Marketers are conscious of the importance of keeping loyal customers. Boone and Kurtz say that â€Å"acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than keeping an existing customer† (380-381). For this reason, Peet not only provided his products in his stores, but he started to look for ways that customers could find his products everywhere. Customers can now buy his products in different supermarkets around the country. For example, Safeway, Super-valu and Ralphs offer his products (Peet’s Coffee). In addition, Peet has seen how technology has grown in the last years and he has created his own website. This website gives the customers the opportunity to see, compare and buy Peet’s products. This website has also a service for customers and they can ask any question related to the products which will be answered by his representatives (Peet’s Coffee). Another important marketing feature of Peet’s business is that he is not only a retailer for his customers, but he is also a wholesaler for distributors of restaurants and food services (Peet’s Coffee). Even though Peet’s coffee is famous and well-known by coffee drinkers, there are some strategies that he should use in order to expand his business. First, a better advertising marketing strategy should be utilized if he wants to become more known around the country considering most people do not know about Peet’s coffee. However, when someone tastes this coffee they should ask themselves: How come I have never heard about this coffee? Peet should then invest money in publicizing his products. For instance, an advertisement on television and in a newspaper would make people arouse curiosity about this coffee. Second, it would be a good idea to emphasize the selling in the universities. Between students it is really popular to drink coffee, especially when exams are approaching. Peet should promote specific campaigns where executive go to different universities to publicize its products. The most important thing would be to franchise Peet’s stores in different universities. By doing this, students would start to know Peet’s coffee and it would be an excellent opportunity for Peet to grow his brand. Finally, in my opinion, the best strategy would be to expand his business to other countries of the world. Peet only has stores in the United States. In this situation, he can not expand his branch more than one point. He could expand his stores to other countries of the world because people like to try new brands. Even if one brand like Starbucks is successful around the world, people will still be attracted if a good product is offered to them. If Peet’s marketing strategy has worked in the United States, there is a high probability that it may work in other countries. Peet’s coffee would be successful around the world and it would keep in people minds for ever. Works Cited Boone, Louise E., and David L. Kurtz. Contemporary Business 12th Edition. Mason: Thomson, 2006. Print. Espinosa, Jerome. â€Å"How to effectively handle union negotiations. † Helium. com Helium 06 Oct. 2010. Web. 03 February. 2012. â€Å"Importance of Motivation. † Leadership-central. com Leadership-central. com, Web. 20 Jan. 2012. Kelly, Marce. , and McGowen, Jim. BSN3. Mason: South Western Cengage Learning, 2006. Print. Peet’s Coffee and Tea. Peet’s Coffee and Tea. PCT, Web. 14 Dec. 2011. Sharpe, Dave. â€Å"Choosing Leadership Styles. † Msuextension. org Montana State University Extension, Web. 20 Jan. 2012.

Gender Roles in America Essay

The distinction between the roles of men and women in America is a modern societal dichotomy. What were once the black and white duties of the 1950’s had paled into various shades of grey by the 21st century. The Ozzie and Harriet roles of the 1950’s and early 1960’s were challenged, redefined and sometimes ignored through the decades that followed. Women were demanding and being granted the opportunity to advance professional careers, explore alternative lifestyles, or forego the classic marriage family and be a single parent. In other cases the parenting roles were completely reversed as pointed out by Glenn Sacks in his essay Stay-at-Home Dads (277). During the 1950’s, traditional American society expected women to marry young, have children and support their husband’s career. There was a sort of stigma associated with the 30 year old spinster addressed with the title Miss. This position was reinforced with the social media of the time. Books like Dr. Spock’s, Babies and Child Care argued that women working outside the home actually risked their children’s mental and emotional health! The primary social media of the time, television and movies, also promoted the division of roles with actresses like Doris Day, Harriet Nelson and Barbara Billingsley playing the supportive wife and caring mother; while the likes of Ozzie Nelson, Hugh Beaumont and Cary Grant were the successful dominating male with the last word in all subjects. Men were expected to be a successful all knowing and authoritative figure, working the classic nine to five job. Those who did not fit this mold were considered by society as unmanly, lazy, failures, or just plain no-good. The only acceptable exception to this model of the male persona was the dashing consummate bachelor portrayed by actors such as John Wayne, William Shatner, and Sean Connery. Women had no such exception. The unmarried female of the time was usually portrayed as Gidget (Sandra Dee), Jeannie (Barbara Eden), Sister Bertrille (Sally Fields) or That Girl’s Anne Marie (Marlo Thomas). Over the course of the next few decades women made dramatic strides towards social equality. Bras were burned, the pill brought on sexual freedom and the no-fault clause in divorce helped free women from the repressive shackles placed on them by the male dominated societal norm. Slowly and somewhat grudgingly, society responded to the female pressures by accepting more and more crossover roles by both women and men. The social differences between he roles of men and women began to blur as less value was placed on the traditional and both sexes began to appear in the workplace in what had previously been opposite gender roles. Areas like engineering, construction and manufacturing saw a permanent influx of women; jobs held temporarily by females during the war years of 1941 to 1945. Concurrently, men began to gravitate towards roles as nurses, teachers, and homemakers. In spite of all the work towards equality and sameism (a word I coined to describe the merging of the gender roles) men are still primarily locked into the role of provider and modern women are painted into a corner; expected to do all the female things and most of the male things while still being athletic, sexy, willing, attractive and smart. According to author Steven Hinshaw, â€Å"Our teenage girls are baffled, distressed, and overwhelmed (by) a set of impossible, contradictory expectations† (301), a situation he terms as a triple bind. Conversely young men are now expected to be seen as strong, brave, successful, sensitive, insightful, supportive and totally accepting of the woman’s new role while still knowing when to open doors and pay for the movie tickets. As we now enter the second decade of the 21st Century, there is no shortage of women doing men’s jobs or vice-versa. The blending of traditional male-female roles has become the norm and the old-style well defined roles of breadwinner and housewife are all but extinct. There is however, a growing trend of the liberated woman moving back into the traditional role of homemaker as they age and decide that they have missed something and now wish to express their maternal feelings. Thus, although modern society fosters the acceptance of more gender neutral roles through education, training and non-discrimination laws it also emphasizes the traditional roles as the desired outcome. So we find ourselves faced with the blurry gray dichotomy of how to meet the politically correct demands of society and still meet the individual needs of the members of that society.

Reconstrution and Race Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reconstrution and Race Relations - Essay Example The exercise of freedom for the freed slaves was quite a challenging prospect especially in the southern states as the white southerners set up road blocks to any achievement of freedom for the former slaves. The southern states’ economies were in shambles at the time and many of its young men were dead or maimed after the war. They, however, formerly owned fewer slaves yet ironically, they vehemently opposed the freedom of the slaves. The Radical Republicans (as they called themselves) used their white majority during voting exercises to pass legislations and restrictions against the black minority, their legislators and voters. In Georgia poll tax of 1877, white southern legislatures passed laws that created more barriers to voting by blacks and poor whites, working to suppress the black vote and reduce it through changes in voter registration, election procedures, poll taxes, residency requirements, rule variations, literacy and understanding tests which were particularly h ard for the poor and especially blacks to fulfill while, for instance, exempting other white voters from literacy test using the grandfather clause. In addition, cases such as the Williams v. Mississippi (1898) and Giles v. Harris (1903) including white primaries created situations that prevented most blacks from voting in southern states. The white southerners also used force to prevent the exercise of any freedom by the former slaves. The enactment of the Jim Crow laws and the subsequent use of force and terror to enforce them aided them greatly in their aims. They waged terror through members of a secret vigilante organization called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The clan waged war even against whites they considered traitors to the race and the region as they sought so desperately to turn back the hands of time to before when African Americans gained the right to vote. Apart from the Ku Klux Klan, other such groups included the White League and the Red Shirts. The southern whites also used racial segregation in many forms as a tool to meet their aims. Blacks and whites rode in different parts of the bus, supported different baseball teams, enjoyed separate public parks and watched movies in separate theatres. Public schools were established separately for whites and blacks (1867) (Hofstadter (1982) where the white dominated municipal governments withheld funds from black schools. White residents also refused to sell or lease land for colored school construction. Due to the segregation, enrolment in black schools greatly exceeded the standard capacity as there were fewer black schools for the growing black community leading to low education standards. The blacks in turn challenged these efforts by the white southerners through law suits amongst other means and according to Foner (1988), the Freedman’s Bureau threatened lawsuits over unfair division of school funds eventually getting some money turned over to a panel of colored trustees for administration o f colored schools. Other such successful lawsuits included Guinn v. United States (1915), Lane v. Wilson (1939) and Smith v. Allwright (1944). The freed people also sought to enhance educational advances, one of the reasons they had been deemed inferior. They begun to buy and lease land for school construction and housing, for example, from the Barry family north of the insane asylum of Anacostia. Most of this they

The Manhattan Project Based on the Factors of Time, Cost and the Essay

The Manhattan Project Based on the Factors of Time, Cost and the Achievement of an Object - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the success of a project is measured in relation to the three major constraints namely time, quality and cost which depend on each other. Adjustment of one element requires that you adjust the other two elements. Proper balancing of the three elements ensures successful scheduling, resourcing and implementation of the project. The quality of the project indicates the desired result objective of the project. The cost includes all the resources need for the accomplishment of the stated objective that may include capital, labor, materials, and risk management among other requirements. Time is the duration of the project which can be broken down to the time required to accomplish every task within the project. The Manhattan Project, like all other projects, was based on the factors of time, cost and the achievement of an object. The project was a military-funded research project responsible for the creation of an atomic bomb. Most of the p hases were carried out within the United States thus the main stakeholder was the United States Government. Other stakeholders included the rest of the Allied nations with Canada and United Kingdom providing support to the program. The project started on a small scale but eventually grew to employee more than 130,000 people and the cost exceeding that of $2 billion, cost of which estimated in 2013 would have been $26 billion. At the time of the start of this project the world was engaged in a fierce war. The Allied nations were doing everything in their power to end the war as soon as possible with as little few casualties as possible. The activities of the project and their time limit have been given in the Gantt chart below. The project has three main stages. First stage was Uranium 235 enrichment through gaseous diffusion, electromagnetic separation and thermal diffusion until 1945 when efficiency was raised to12730 pounds. The second stage was plutonium enrichment which was to b e used as substitute for uranium 235. 95% pure plutonium was produced in February 1945. The final stage of bomb designed using plutonium and uranium. The first bomb was tested in the year 1594. The project was later transferred to Atomic Energy Commission and in August 1947 Manhattan Engineer District was ended. The Manhattan project used the theory of production in the construction of the bomb. Three basic phases were used in its construction planning, execution and control. These phases are measured in relation to the factors of productions that include time, resources and the scope of the project. Planning phase included a number of technical activities that needed to be addressed before the start of the construction. The first issue was the enrichment of fissile materials Uranium and Plutonium. Second phase was the structure and design of the bomb while third phase was the testing of the atomic bomb. Evaluation of the project Over several decades the success of projects has been assessed by the Iron Triangle that consists of time, quality and cost. Project management involves use of resources, tools and techniques to achieve a specific assignment within the limits of cost, time and qualities. Project managers has a responsibility of managing, planning, coordinating various activities in a project as well as managing the changes that occur in the duration of the project. According to Atkinson, success of the project should also be measured in relation to benefits to all the stakeholders of the project as well as the final product and thus the success of a project should be measured at different stages of the project. Some projects have a positive impact at the initial stages but the set objectives are not achieved in due to time, quality and cost constraints.

Susan Schwartz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Susan Schwartz - Essay Example Term used for determining the target market is â€Å"market segmentation† (Daniel, 2012). Market segmentation can be defined as a process of â€Å"dividing a market into smaller groups of buyers with distinct needs, characteristics, behaviors, etc. that might require separate products or marketing mixes† (Bragg, n.d.). When the target market is to be determined for a certain product, its traits need to be studied first. It might be useful either for people of a certain age group or all age groups, a certain culture or all cultures, a certain religion or all religions, and a certain ethnicity or all ethnicities. These factors need to be considered. Three factors that play a pivotal role in the selection of target market are the size and growth of segment, its structural attractiveness, and the goals and resources of business. Modification of a product design to expand the consumer base by incorporating the requirements of a lot of communities makes the target market subj ective. â€Å"I dont know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody† (Cosby cited in Bragg,

International business Case Analysis - Wal-Mart Essay

International business Case Analysis - Wal-Mart - Essay Example Why was Wal-Mart unsuccessful in Germany, withdrawing in 2006, and relatively successful in the UK? 12 Reference 16 How attractive was the discount retailing industry in the USA when Wal-Mart first began operations in the 1950s. The US retail industry has considerably changed over the few decades due to two related trends, one being the discount retailing and second factor is the increasing prevalence of the large retail chains. The discounting retailing sector is controlled by chains. The concept is fairly new and the first discount store appeared in the 1950s. Discount retailing is one of the most dynamic sectors in the retail industry. Until 1990s two important retail chains were Wal-Mart and Kmart (Jia, 2007, p. 5). The retailing industry is known to be the second largest industry across the globe with respect to total number of establishment as well as total number of employees. The retail industry generates about $3.8trillion annually. The top five retail industry operating acr oss the world are Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Costco and Kroger. Wal-Mart apart from being the largest retailer globally is also the largest company and generates approximately $256billion sales annually. In discount retailing industry the two main competitors are Wal-Mart and Target. ... With regards to Wal-Mart, suppliers who do not maintain or live up to the expectation of Wal-Mart point of system are thus replaced. Wal-Mart being a big brand and is powerful enough to make the suppliers recognise the fact and the situation when they do good business and thus can very conveniently switch suppliers at its convenience when they do not perform the work as expected. The suppliers also cannot afford to lose on the big brands, the key players and hence the supplier power tends to be low. As shown above the bargaining powers of customer are relative high as discount retail purchase can be substitutable and thus consumers has the power to go between the competitors depicting a high bargaining power. The switching cost involved in shifting from one competitor to another is also low and the consumers demand for high quality products at discount price. It is important to understand that consumer as individual does not have bargaining power with the retail stores but as a group consumers can demand a higher quality product at low price. Consumers are also price sensitive as a result the suppliers need to keep the price low to succeed indicating high customer power. Threat of new entrant is particularly low in the discount retailing industry as there exist a high barrier to enter the discounted retail industry with respect to investors, capital and competition. The huge capital required by a new entrant to compete with all the established retailers will take a longer time and establish them in the retail market. Although the switching cost is low for the consumers but brand loyalty towards a particular brand are relatively high and consumer would not like to shift towards a

Paper about a speech Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

About a speech - Research Paper Example King claims that America has defaulted on this promise—an example of logos within his speech. Furthermore, he uses pathos and logos to effectively appeal to the audiences. King’s repetition of the phrase â€Å"I have a dream† is intended to emphasize his dream of equality for African Americans. To that end, within his speech King incorporates metaphors and vivid imagery in the hopes that even a place like Mississippi, â€Å"a state sweltering with the heat of injustice †¦ [and] oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice† (2712). Martin Luther King, Jr. attended segregated schools in Georgia. In 1948, he received his Bachelor’s of Arts from Morehouse College. After study theology at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, he enrolled at Boston University, where he received his doctorate. In Boston he met his wife, Coretta Scott. In 1954 King became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alaba ma. At this time he was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). King was always an advocate of civil rights, and in December 1955 he became the leader of the first nonviolent Negro demonstration, the bus boycott in Montgomery that lasted 382 days.

I must write a after action review (AAR) based off my deployment to Essay - 1

I must write a after action review (AAR) based off my deployment to Afghanistan - Essay Example My deputy and I often disagreed due to differing opinions concerning the point at which a product was supposed to enter sustainment phases. My deputy held that the personnel within the army unit would be ready to handle new equipment on their own soon after their training; however, this perspective did not consider other factors. For instance, this view overlooked the fact that we were fielding new equipment to soldiers with no experience in how they operation during wartime; similarly. This view was blind to the fact that Soldiers rotate to other FOBs (forward operation bases) or COPs and that they may get hurt or whatever the case me be, due to their inexperience with handling new equipment. Contrariwise, I believed in continuous retraining, which is why I had my contractors provide multiple training classes to different personnel of the same unit. I stressed the importance of the acquisition community taking responsibility to support the war fighter. I believed it was our obligati on as the acquisition community to support the war fighter regardless of the number of training events. Therefore, it would take for every unit, army or marines to be capable of handling the generators on their own. The soldiers had to be thoroughly trained to ensure they were equipped with the competence needed to operate the new equipment in the field, even if it meant doing it repeatedly with different personnel. In that case, I supported the training for the army personnel for as long as it was needed, to ensure the war fighters were well prepared to operate our new generators. The command and Control (C2) issue cropped up as well, in the course of my deployment in Afghanistan; as expected in combat zones, where orders are given to carry out missions, there was always a strict chain of command that had to be observed at all times. A chain of command does establish clear lines or boundaries for officers in the field, who must act in accordance

Essay Topic Needed Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Topic Needed - Essay Example Due to this The Protestant-Calvinist Church tried to separate their selves from the Catholicism. The adaptation of Blacks and Indians was very slow in process by the whole nation. Racism began to construct on the basis of religion and color of the people. Blacks and Indians were treated as slaves and soulless. The economy of slavery in South forced a system based on racialism which developed the biological, zoological and botanical theories, which explained the human difference &slavery justification. (DISMANTLING RACISM: A Resource Book). From my personal point of view, Racism and slavery in south has always been a major issue of human rights. Slaves and Blacks being treated as lesser beings is what led to society with a born mindset against slaves and Blacks. Historically, sociology in context with the race has failed to observe the construction of both sides of America black/white, in terms of radical inequality. The real situation of America’s society is defined by both ‘race’ and ‘whiteness’. It was observed by Blumer that the Americans race system emerged from the intersection into three events occurred in the history of America. That was the conquest of the Indians, the forced importation of Africans, and more or less solicited coming of Europeans, Asians, and Latinos. Race was created in America during the time of 16th and 17th century. As per norms and values the trend was that the Catholics preferred to marry Catholics, the wealthy people preferred to marry wealthy, white preferred white and black preferred black. So, the norms of endogamy became the major issue in the ‘races’ of America. In 1967, van den Berghe observed that â€Å"sociologist might regard racial distinction as a spe cial case of invidious status differentiation†. Blumer also pointed the distinction of statuses among the American people. The American ‘race’ relations represent the historical activities of humanity

Indian Creation Stories Essay Example for Free

Indian Creation Stories Essay After reading the Iroquois and Pima creation myths in the book, I have been very intrigued by the Native American beliefs of the creation of the earth. It seems that nearly every tribe has a different belief of how it happened, though some are very similar. The Huron tribe, originally from the St. Lawrence Valley, have a very similar belief of creation as the Iroquois, where the Cherokee tribe had a totally different view than the Pima. The Iroquois and the Huron myths are both in the Earth-Diver category. In this type of myth, animals swim deep to the bottom of the water and bring up dirt in their mouth, forming the earth. Just like the Iroquois, in the Huron myth, a divine woman falls out the sky and is swept up just before hitting water by a hawk. The hawk then calls down in the water for help, for she is too heavy for it to hold by itself. First, a turtle comes out the sea for her to sit on, and then he instructs other animals such as ducks, beavers, and even a muskrat. After the earth is built, the woman gives birth to twins, but soon dies after giving birth to her two sons. The sons in both myths represent good and evil on earth. They were to prepare the earth so that humans could live on it, but they found out that they could not live together. So, they separated, with each one taking their own portion of the earth to prepare. Once older, the good son creates a sun and moon out of the remains of its mother’s body. It continues to create the world, forming vegetation and other useful tools to help humans survive. Meanwhile, the evil brother made outrageous animals, violent and disturbing. He made wolves, bears, venomous snakes, and panthers of giant size. He made massive mosquitos, the size of wild turkeys, and he made an enormous toad, it drank up the fresh water that was on the earth. The good brother then had to kill the toad to bring water back to the land. In the end, the good brother defeated the evil brother in a fight, sending the evil brother’s soul to the center of the earth. Pima creation myth is similar to the Iroquois and Huron myths in that there are both animals that help build the earth, except in the Pima myth, they are land animals instead of sea animals. Also, there are two main characters that represent good and evil. The Cherokee creation myth starts as the world being completely covered in water and earth merely being an island floating bove the seas suspended by four rawhide ropes. There were no people, and the animals lived above the rainbow. The animals sent the water beetle under the seas to search for more room, and it brought up mud that spread quickly, turning into land. Although at first the land was to soft and flat, Godfather buzzard went to check on the land and the wind from his wings created mountains and valleys, thus why the Cherokee territory has many mountains. As the new ground stiffened, the pulled the sun from behind the rainbow and raised it higher in the sky. The next thing created was the plants, and view animals were given the privilege to see at night. People were created last, with the women being able to have babies every seven days, the Creator feared that the world would soon become crowed and made it so women could only have one child a year. The Native American creation stories of the Iroquois and Huron are almost identical where the Pima and Cherokee are completely opposite of each other. This goes to show just how different the beliefs of different Indian tribes are, and how this holds true to how there are different beliefs across the United States still today.

Impacts of Green Revolution on Environment

Impacts of Green Revolution on Environment Effects of green revolution on environment Green revolution refers mainly to dramatic increases in cereal grain yields in most of the developing countries. It can also be defined as the renovation of agricultural practices which began in Mexico in the 1940s. it started spreading to other parts of the globe in the 1950s and 1960s as a result of the success in producing more agricultural products and hence increasing the amount of calories produced per acre of agricultural land. Researchers in Mexico developed broadly adapted, short stemmed and disease resistant wheats that did extremely well in converting fertilizers and water into high yields. The seeds improved were instrumental in boosting Mexican wheat production and averted famine in India and Pakistan. The abandoning of the chemical farming to adapt the organic farming which is fossil fuel driven has resulted to amazing increases in productivity , restoration of depleted soils, returning vibrant health for the farmers which had been affected by the chemicals in the ferti lizers and pesticides and a greater diversity of crops both within and between species. Green revolution has led to a situation where the worlds population can harvest more than 90% of its food calories from a meager 15 species of crops. Green revolution had also positive economic results. Since crops under high yield varieties needed more water, more fertilizer, more pesticides, fungicides and other certain chemicals. This spurred the growth of the local manufacturing sector such industrial growth created new jobs and contributed to the countries gross domestic product. The increase in irrigation created need for new dams to harness water. The water stored was used to create hydroelectric power and this in turn boosted industrial growth, created new jobs and improved their standards of living. Green revolution had negative impacts. Despite the rapidly expanding global food supplies there is also a large population still starving. This technology was made available only to rich but the poor farmers were left out due to the expenditure incurred in adapting the new technology. The poor farmers cant afford to buy fertilizers and other input in volume, water is a limiting factor in the farming and irrigation is out of reach for the poor farmer since they cant afford. The use of chemical fertilizers depletes the soils natural fertility and pesticides generates resistant pests farmers need more fertilizers and pesticides to achieve the same results. Green evolution is not ecologically sustainable. Researches conducted showed that after achieving dramatic increases in the early stages of the technological transformations yields began falling in several green revolution areas. An example is in Philippines, Central Luzon where the rice yields grew steadily during the 1970s got to its peak in the early 1980s and the yields have been decreasing steadily since then. Due to green revolution we have lost many of our agricultural biodiversity .when the farmers opted to plant the new improved crop varieties and raise the new cross breeds of livestock many traditional local varieties became extinct. The widespread use of pesticides and other agro-chemicals has lead to severe environmental degradation and endangered public health. The worldwide use of chemicals fertilizers has degraded the soil which results to loss of humus; the soil becomes cracked sand the water retaining capacity decreases. Green revolution was an expensive technology a nd hence for them to adopt it they had to get credit facilities and some ended up into large debts. Large scale monoculture farming is the growing of one single crop type over a wide area. Monoculture can lead to wide spread of diseases and affects the soil fertility since the continuous depletion one a particular nutrients from the soil without change. In monoculture cycles of nutrients, water, energy and wastes have become open opposed to closed as in a natural ecosystem. Despite the substantial amounts of crop residues and manure produced in farms, it has become more and more difficult to recycle the nutrients in the agricultural system. Animal wastes cannot economically be recycled to the land in a nutrient recycling process because the production systems are remote geographically from the other cycles which can complete the cycle. Soil fertility is the key factor in the green evolution technology .the high yields achieved due to green evolution is geared by fertile soils which results due to use of chemicals .wide spread of green evolution and large scale monoculture has resul ted to soil infertility such that the soil cannot produce on its own. Large scale monoculture has lead to increased yields due to lack of competition from other plant species but as time goes by the soil fertility of land/soil reduces due over exhaustion. Large scale is monoculture has increased recently and is boosting the economy due to high yields but it is posing danger in the future due to increased soil infertility. Apart from green evolution and large scale monoculture there are other ways which can be used to ensure sustainable food to the worlds growing population. Sustainable agriculture can provide a solution to the problem of limited resources and the challenge to achieve global food security. There are three sides to sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture has environmental, economic and social dimensions and all of these must be considered. Focusing ad upgrading the natural environment is fundamental and dealing with issues like climate change, water scarcity, soil degradation, energy and biodiversity. The social dimension of sustainable agriculture encompasses labor rights and health of communities inclusive of access and affordability of food, community health and labor rights. Sustainable agriculture on the economic side is productive, competitive and efficient. Sustainable agriculture practices and programs help businesses in ensuring a reliable supply of food and open new o pportunities. This essay described the impact of green revolution on the environment. Climate change effects for agriculture are serious in that crops are exposed to quite different conditions from those suit them and hence productivity is greatly affected. Maximize land use by doing land reclamation .the availability of fertile land will be essential for healthy crops and livestock and also promotes biodiversity, filtering and efficient use of water, avoiding nutrients run-off. Fertile land acts as a carbon sink minimizing the forces of climate change. Pest management is essential for preserving the abundance and diversity of native species and for ensuring the quality and agricultural yields sustainability. Biodiversity protection has main concerns in various agricultural practices and businesses are exploring ways to be productive as well as maintaining and upgrading biodiversity. The social aspect of ensuring sustainable agriculture is by ensuring that farmers receive returns which are fair, a nd that high quality labor conditions exist throughout the chain of supply. Access to education, training and health for laborers and their families can be facilitated by businesses. Ensuring sustainable agriculture can also be achieved by maintaining a food supply which is safe .by doing this a goal of the majority of various producers, distributors and processors is achieved. By ensuring animal welfare is maintained agricultural sustainability can be achieved. Livestock being the central element of farming they play a vital role in meeting both productivity and sustainability objectives.

Essay --

From the 1800s to the 1930s, Japan and India were technologically similar in that both countries increased the use of machines to produce textiles for the cotton industries. They also had economical similarities because the factory workers were all being paid low wages. Despite the similarities, Japan and India socially differed in the dominance of gender among the workers, as well as where the factory workers came from. Japan and India both increased the use of machinery throughout the years. Document 1, 2, and 6 are evidence proving that both countries increase the usage of machines while producing textiles. The Production of Cotton Yarn and Cloth in India chart (Doc 1) shows that the amount of hand-spun yarn decreased, while the amount of machine-spun yarn increases. The amount of machine-made cloth had also increased significantly in 1914. The increase in machine-made and machine-spun textile shows that India is beginning to rely on machines more than hand power. Likewise, the Production of Cotton Yarn in Japan chart (Doc 2) shows that cotton yarn significantly increased from 5 million pounds in 1884 to 666 million pounds in 1914. The Japanese would have to increase the use of machines as well as the use of hand power to maintain the rising number of yarn produced. The increase of yarn is the result of the Japanese developing in the textile industry. Both charts from Document 1 and 2 display tha t Japan and India increased the usage of machines in making yarn. The Indian economist, Radhakamal Mukerjee, in 1916 (Doc 6) states that there has been a decrease in handwoven clothing as handloom weavers are abandoning their looms in India. The reduction of handwoven clothing is an outcome of the increase usage in textile machines. S... ...d-spun yarn. The journal entry of an Indian worker could be helpful, in that it provides a primary source of the life of a textile worker. Since there were entries on Japanese workers (Doc 3), it would only be beneficial to provide one for an Indian worker. This entry can show the differences in how the workers are being paid and treated. Being provided with this information can help further explain the differences between Japan and India’s workers. In conclusion, they both increased the use of machinery to produce the cotton and managed to pay the workers in low wages. However, in Japan, the majority of the workers seem to be women. In India, most of the workers are men. The laborers come from different places and social rankings, depending on the country. Overall, Japan and India have certain similarities as well as differences concerning the cotton industries.

Perspective on Religion Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick Essay example -- M

Perspective on Religion Herman Melville's Moby-Dick A cornerstone of the philosophical and narrative substructure of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is point of view, or perspective. The textually primary point of view in the novel is Ishmael's, since he is the narrator of the story. However, Ishmael relates his story in such a way that one can easily detect numerous other "voices," or other perspectives, in the story, which often oppose the narrator's voice. These other, non-primary perspectives function both to establish Moby-Dick as a novel with numerous points of view and to clarify Ishmael's own particular point of view on certain subjects. For instance, in "The Ramadan" Ishmael attempts to convince Queequeg of the ridiculous and impractical nature of Queequeg's religion. Ishmael quickly perceives that his attempt is ineffective. He writes, "I do not think that my remarks about religion made much impression upon Queequeg. Because he somehow seemed dull of hearing on that important subject, unless considered from his own point of view " (88). In this passage and its, context are two important implications. First, in blatantly noting that Queequeg must see from "his own point of view," Ishmael states and accepts that he and Queequeg view religion from different perspectives. Second, in stating in the context of this quotation his criticisms of Queequeg's religion--that it is impractical, unhealthy, and without benefit to the soul - Ishmael reveals something of his own perspective on religion (87-88). Religion, or in the case of Moby-Dick, one's perspective on religion, is a substantial theme in the novel. Of this "important subject," as Ishmael describes it, numerous voices in the narrative speak. The orthodox Christian v... ... of the omnipresence of God. He believes that religion should be practical and healthy. Ishmael believes that history is cyclical, not linear, and he believes in reincarnation. Ishmael believes that humans are the products of their interplay between chance, necessity, and free will. Ishmael argues for all these beliefs not on the basis of canonical revelation or discursive reasons, but on the basis of intuition and mystical insight. This is Ishmael's religious perspective. But whose perspective is right? Is Ishmael's correct? Is Ahab's? Queequeg's? Is the orthodox Christian perspective correct? Moby-Dick does not answer these questions. Ishmael tells the reader that the "pulpit leads to the world" (46). Ishmael shows the reader that who is in the pulpit makes all the difference. Work Cited Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1981.

My Grandmother Essay

Everybody has one important person in their lives. For me, the most influential person in my life is my grandmother. She is a traditional Chinese woman. When I was a child, my grandmother had been blind since I was not born, but she is nimbler than most people. My grandmother took care of me when I was a baby. Although my grandmother is dead, I still miss her, because she taught more experiences to me and these have changed many things in my mind. When I was a little girl, my parents went to another place for their work. Therefore, my grandmother took care of me at home. However, I thought that my parents did not love me because they were not like other parents who stayed at home. I felt my life was lost color. I always felt so bored and unhappy, because other children did not want to play with me, and I lost my parents’ love. Over some time, my character became lonely and shy. I thought that I would not have anymore changes in my life. However, my grandmother used something to change my thinking. One day, I was very unhappy and worrying about coming back home. When my grandmother knew that I was back, she cooked some dessert for me. But I did not want to eat anything. My grandmother was very worried about me and she asked me what happened. I told her that my teacher needed me to choose one story for speech in the classroom at next week. I was worrying about it because I was a shy girl and I did not believe that I could do it. After my grandmother understood the reasons, she laughed at me. I felt so uncomfortable. Therefore, I made a decision for this speech. But I always felt very angry about my grandmother’s behavior, and I did not want to talk with her. For a while, my grandmother did not laugh again. She said that this was a good chance for me and I must try to do it. I always did not want to talk about anything with her. Nevertheless, my grandmother still told one story to me. When she finished this story, she taught me who had the confidences and bravery to solve this problem. After this day, my grandmother requested me, who told one story to her in every night. Because of my grandmother’s training, I improved my speech and I became brave. So I was successful to tell this story to my classmates in the classroom. In this matter, I know that nothing is impossible. If I want to do anything, then I must be brave to do it. Because of my grandmother is teaching me, I changed shyness in my life and I was very happy for this change. I did not feel lonely again, because many children liked the story I told them, and then they wanted to play with me. My grandmother taught more experiences to me. Furthermore, she was a good grandmother because she knew that how to take care of me. For example, I felt very bad one morning. My grandmother touched my face, and then she said that I was sick and I needed to rest. I heard my grandmother because although my grandmother did not see anything, she knew more things. At the night, I still felt very bad and I was afraid about my disease. However, my grandmother comforted me. She took care of me. The next morning, I felt so good and strong. When I looked at my grandmother’s face, I was crying because I felt she was so tired to take care of me. However, my grandmother was so happy to comfort me and she said that she was fine. At now, I think that my grandmother is a great woman. Because of my grandmother is care. I know that many people need our help when they have trouble. I learned how to help those people from my grandmother. On the cold day, my friend and I came back home from school, we were very happy to talk with each other. Suddenly, my friend fell on the road and got hurt. She was crying. I did not know how to comfort her because her knee was bleeding. I looked for other people, but nobody came. I was very anxious and worried about her. At this time, I wanted to cry, but I knew that I could not cry because if I was crying, then my friend would be worrying about more things. Therefore, I tried to think of some ideas to help my friend. All at once, I remembered that my grandmother taught me how to cure her wound. I went to comfort my friend. At the same time, I immediately looked for one of medicinal herbs to cure her wound. In the end, I found the medicinal herbs to cure her wound, and then she did not cry. I was took my friend to go back her home. My friend and her mother said thanks for my help. When I came back home, I told to my grandmother about this. She was so happy to praise me. At this moment, although I felt very tired, I was glad to hear about it. After this time, I understood why my grandmother taught me to help other people. Therefore, I had been deciding to help much more people. My grandmother has many roles in my life. Sometimes my grandmother is like a best friend, she would share most interesting stories to me. Sometimes my grandmother is like a rigorous teacher. She passed much knowledge from her experiences to me, and she would request me who must change bad behavior. Sometimes my grandmother is like a chef. She could cook the most delicious food for me. According to my grandmother, I realize that my parents work in another place for our lives, and they love me very much. Therefore, I think that my grandmother is very important in my life. Furthermore, I believe that I do not forget her teaching forever, and I feel very happy to live with my grandmother

Learning Team Skills Assessment Paper and Matrix

Learning Team Skills Assessment Paper and Matrix Team A is made up of skilled individuals. The team is researching business ideas for a consulting firm. The team’s plan is to review the members’ strengths and weaknesses and evaluate what type of consulting firm would best suited for the qualities of the team members. In addition, Team A will review the opportunities and qualifications the team believes are required to strengthen the management team and company. Team A believes the general management skills and the strengths of the partners will provide the team with advantage and opportunities to convince potential customers that the team has the necessary skills to be successful. Team Skills Summary/Analysis The pool of individuals who will develop this organization is comprised of dynamic talent and energy. Every corporate officer has obtained a college degree in business administration demonstrating discipline and motivation. Within experiential categories, which are characterized by skills and strengths, the team brings together qualities that complement and build on those of other members. The skills are comprised of management level proficiency within accounting, employee development, human resources, business law, computers and information processing, marketing, and E-business. Strengths are centered on personal relations within human resources and organizational competence. These skills and strengths will combine well to develop a consulting firm that will uphold our team commitment to our client providing the best-qualified candidates to meet and exceed their requirements and expectations. Consulting Firm Options for Team A Medical Staff / Personnel Consulting Two of Team A’s members have work experience in the medical field which would benefit a Team decision to pursue a firm to provide consultation for medical staff or personnel. Kellie Wolinski currently works for the United Health Group as a Territory Developer. Kellie’s job function involves educating providers, facilities, and senior groups about Medicare Plan Options that will provide the consulting background for our medical staffing and personnel-consulting firm. Mary Ann Senatore is currently employed at JFK Medical Center as Resource Coordinator of Cardiovascular Services, allowing er to assume the administrative role for payroll, purchasing, and human resource functions. Performing the function of medical staff or personnel consultation would require identifying and recruiting candidates for employment. Team A could use knowledge of industry needs to help fill essential positions in the medical field. The consulting company would develop a database of professional s able to fill clients’ needs. Team A would provide background checks, accreditation checks, and confirm any specialized training or certification prior placing professionals in the database. Professionals in the system would be encouraged to pursue advanced training in specialized fields to meet the demand of the firm’s clients. Team A would provide the professionals with resume services, coaching through the interview process, salary negotiations, and provide relocation assistance services. Internet Advertising/Marketing Consulting Tracy Schneider has experience working with Internet marketing through work experience with her own business. Team A could use Tracy’s experience and educational background of the team’s members to start an Internet marketing consultation firm. The goals of the firm would be to help clients attract, retain, and convert Internet traffic into viable business leads. The firm would provide Internet public relations, brand management, and product reputation management. Jessica Mazakas marketing skills will be an asset in obtaining and retaining clients. The firm would work with clients to identify individual target markets and establish business goals by combining off line and online business activities. Proper branding and brand recognition services retain consumers through brand loyalty initiatives. Broadcasting Technology Consulting Team A is also considering consultation services in the field of broadcast technology and online training programs for broadcasting professionals. Team A’s members could apply experience from the online training environment at the University of Phoenix to the online training needs of this sector. Ryan Bierbaum’s experience in gaming networks may be beneficial to the inner workings required for broadcasting technology. The firm could also provide consultation and project management for system integrations and technology system upgrades by collaborating with product suppliers. One other area of interest is the design of content specific software design technologies. Plans to Develop Skills As indicated, Team A has a diverse mixture of skills. Each team member has identified his or her own strengths, skills, and weaknesses. Through our combined strengths, we will be able to provide our clients with the services they require. Our weaknesses will allow those team members to benefit, learn, and grow through other member’s strengths. This complement of skills allows us able to move forward with our consulting firm.

Uniforms vs No Uniforms

Students at schools with enforced dress codes behave better than students at schools without enforced dress codes. They tend to be more educated, have more discipline, and have better manners than those students without enforced dress codes. Students with enforced dress codes tend to be more educated than those students who go to schools without enforced dress codes because they tend to attend school more. According to research, students that have uniforms have better attendance because they don't have to worry about what they are wearing to school because everyone is wearing the same style of clothing. No one is there to criticize them about how their shirt is ugly or how their shoes don't match what they're wearing. One of the reasons why students don't go to school is because they don't have the right clothes to fit in or be cool and they don't want to get bullied by the â€Å"cool† kids. Another reason why students with enforced dress codes are more educated is because since everyone is wearing the same thing, they aren't worried about who is wearing what. Since they don't have that on their minds, they have more time to worry about their education and pay more attention in class. Many students like to gossip about what others are wearing. It may be in a positive way or in a negative way. But either way, the have their minds occupied on something other than their classwork. Students who go to a school with enforced dress code are more likely to focus on their education because they are going to school to learn, not to worry about who is wearing the latest clothes trend. Students tend to be more disciplined if they attend schools that enforce dress codes because they have more order at their school. These students are ordered to follow a certain dress code and it is up to them if they want to respect authority or not. Those who choose to listen and go to schools with enforced dress codes are obviously more disciplined than those who don't go to dress code enforced schools. These students don't really get into fights or talk back to their teachers. These students tend to be more respectful to teachers and students because they are willing to follow all of the school's rules. They listen to teachers and set good examples. It is said that kids are better behaved when they are dressed neatly and modestly. Students that attend dress code enforced schools have more manners and class than those students that don't go to dress code enforced schools. The reason why these students have more class is because they know how to dress respectively. They don't go around town in shorts or pants that hang below their underpants. They aren't the type of people that wear chest revealing shirts. These students are very respectful and show a lot of class. Schools that enforce dress codes tend to have fewer fights occur on their campus. Their students are better behaved and have more manners than students that go to a school where they don't enforce dress codes. According to research, a lot of fights start out because a student made fun of another student's clothes. Well, if schools were stricter on what students were allowed to wear and maybe make the students wear uniforms, these fight would never occur. There was a boy named Johnny who was very smart. He never got anything lower than a A in any of his classes. He was also very athletic and enjoyed playing sports. You would think that everything was going well for him except for the fact that Johnny had no friends. You see, the kids at school didn't want to be friends with him because of the way he dressed. His parents couldn't afford to buy him clothes that were â€Å"in† so he didn't fit in with the â€Å"cool† kids. The kids at school were too embarrassed to be seen talking to Johnny, so they just avoided him. Johnny was always getting picked on. The kids at school would often call him names and drop his books in the hallway to seem cool and fit in with the other kids who were doing it. Even though Johnny was very athletic, he was always the last one to be picked when playing a sport. Johnny became very lonely and depressed because as a kid, he never had any friends. He started slacking in school, no longer getting â€Å"A's†. He began to get â€Å"C's† and â€Å"D's† with a few occasional â€Å"F's†. He began to skip classes so that he wouldn't have to go through the whole bullying situation. He stopped playing sports for they just didn't bring him much joy anymore. One day when Johnny was at the mall, he saw the pair of Levi's that everyone was wearing to school on a mannequin in a store window. He went in the store and tried them on. He loved the way that he looked in them and thought that if he wore them to school, some of the kids would think that he was cool and possibly be friends with him. But when he flipped over the price tag and saw that the jeans cost $39. 9, his hopes went down. He could never afford to buy forty dollar jeans. Then an idea came to mind. He thought that if he stole the jeans without anyone noticing, then he could have them without paying for them. So Johnny walked out of the store with the jeans on hoping that no one would notice. Unfortunately, Johnny got caught. Security called his parents in and Johnny got scolded by security. They told him the consequences of stealing and how he could end up in jail. When his parents got there, they asked Johnny why he stole the pants and he told them the truth. When they realized what was going on, they transferred him to a school where the kids had to wear uniforms. Johnny realized how great his new peers were and loved the fact that no one was making fun of him because of his style of clothing. At the new school, Johnny became his usual self again, getting straight â€Å"A's† and playing sports. The only difference was that he now had a lot of friends. Therefore, students who attend schools that enforce dress codes are better behaved than students who go to schools that don't enforce dress codes. These students dress better, have better manners, and they show a lot of discipline. Unlike students who attend schools that don't enforce dress codes who have no discipline what-so-ever and who dress like they don't even care that they are going to school. Overall, education is very important and should be taken very seriously. Students should behave and be respectful to all peers and teachers. If students tend to behave better with enforced dress codes, than all schools should enforce dress codes. After all, how we dress does matter and it affects our performance very much.

Bmw and Peugeot

[pic] MBA 503: Managerial Decision Making: Financial Analysis Professor: Sameer Mustafa [pic] [pic] INVESTMENT IN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY: BMW OR PEUGEOT Section F12N72 Team members: Ranjan Saha Sam Khassawneh Elena Dugarova Executive Summary This report provides a financial analysis and assessment of two automobile companies Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW Group) and PSA Peugeot Citroen. Methods of analysis include comparison and evaluation of financial ratios, financial SWOT, R&D and cash flow analyses. All calculations can be found in the appendices.Results of data analyzed show that both companies have strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities, but Peugeot has more strengths and opportunities in terms of long-run prospective, than in BMW. After analyzing both companies we recommend to invest in Peugeot. Table of Content 1. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. SOWT Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. BMW Strengths †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2. BMW Weaknesses †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3. BMW Opportunities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. BMW Threats †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5. Peugeot Strengths †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6. Peugeot Weaknesses †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7.Peugeot Opportunities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8. Peugeot Threats †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3. Comparison of two companies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. Recommendations †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5. Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6. Appendices †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7. References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1. Introduction This report provides data on the financial situation of two well-known automobile brands, BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroen, over 2009 and 2011. The purpose of the report is to evaluate the financial situation of these companies in order to make an investment decision in any of these companies.First part of the report provides brief description about the companies followed by the situation analysis of both companies. Third part of the report illustrates the comparison followed by recommendation and conclusion. The recommendation will be made based on the result of the situation analysis. BMW Group was founded in Germany in 1917. This is one of the most prospering automobile, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing companies. BMW Group has three one of the finest brands in this industry: BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce (Annual report, 2011, p. 3).The other company PSA Peugeot Citroen was founded in Paris in 1976. PSA Peugeot Citroen offers automobiles and motorcycles worldwide (PSA Peugeot Citroen, 2012). Nowadays this automobile company is supplying its products to China, Latin America, Russia and Europe (Annual report, 2011, p. 4). 2. Situation analysis for BMW and Peugeot The following section will discuss the financial strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of both companies. 2. 1 Strengths of BMW 2. 1. 1 Sustainability of the company Maintaining the profitability is vital for any firm in order to be remaining sustainable.From the profitability test, it is apparent that the company improved it’s profitability over the year 2009 to 2011. Gross profitability increased significantly from 13. 96% in 2009 to 24. 38% in 2010 and continued to climb up to 27. 79 by the end of 2011. 2. 1. 2 Excellent creditworthiness BMW has been assigned credit rating status as â€Å"stable† by both Moody’s (rating A2) and Standard & Poor (rating A) which indicates the firm’s sound solvency position to debt (www. bmwgroup. com). In addition, their interest cover ratio provides very positive indication as it increased from 3. 36 in 2009 to 9. 54 in 2011.By utilizing this status company will be able to attract potential creditor with lower interest rate. Therefore, their profitability will increase due to the lower interest expenditure. 2. 1. 3 Increase investment in research and development Investment in research and development (R&D) is significantly important in order to take competitive advantage and mai ntain sustainable growth. BMW is committed to in R&D to meet current and future demand. Their expenditure rose up by 13. 3%? to â‚ ¬2,773 million from 2010 to 2011. One of the most advantages of BMW is creative production (Annual report BMW, 2011).They invested extensively in the past 3 years towards improving the environment and reduction of the CO2 emissions by 30 %. They also introduced fuel efficient product line such as BMW i models in order to meet the current demand. Moreover, BMW is searching for alternative energy solution by electrification and utilizing solar energy in their future product range. By introducing new product line BMW could take competitive advantage over it competitors by attracting environmental friendly customers which would maximize their profit as well as their image as innovative company. 2. 1. Commitment to Employees training The company values its human resources and invests in attracting and training skilled workforce to boost the quality of its products by reducing error rate, waste in production. It will also help BMW to strengthen customer relation as trained employees would able to communicate with confident by utilizing their knowledge and skills which will increase customer satisfaction. Moreover, due to the training employees will gain confidence to communicate more clearly with management which will improve the relationship between employee and management.As a result disputes between labour union and BMW will be reduced (Bloom & Lafleur, n. d. pp 5 – 9) In 2011 expenditure on basic and further training rose sharply by 37. 4% to â‚ ¬246 million (Annual report BMW, 2011). 2. 1. 5 Social responsibility BMW signed the UN Global Compact and issued a â€Å"Joint Declaration on Human Rights and Working Conditions which demonstrates that BMW complies with the fundamental working standards of the International Labor Organization (Annual Report BMW, 2011). It also indicates that BMW is a socially responsible firm w hich will have a positive impact on the image of the company (Murillo & Martinek, 2009).BMW’s image as a good citizen would help to attract potential investors, creditors and customers who care about social responsibility of any company. 2. 2 Weaknesses BMW 2. 2. 1Operating efficiency Receivable turnover has sharply declined from 55. 04 in 2009 to 15. 93 in 2011. Inventory turnover has also declined from 14. 50 in 2010 to 5. 43 in 2011. Both ratios are below the industry norm, which indicates that management was not efficient enough to collect its receivables. This also indicates that sales and marketing department didn’t perform well compare to the competitors to increase the sales. . 2. 2 Sharp decline in sales: In 2011 BMW’s sales dropped by 37 % in the US which is the largest market outside Europe. If it continues to decline, BMW may lose market share significantly which would have a very negative impact on the profitability as well as it would be a threat t o the sustainability of the company. 2. 2. 3 Liquidity BMW’s ability to meet the short-term financial obligation is low comparing to the industry norm. If BMW don’t pay attention to increase the liquidity, it could turn into a threat from weakness. 2. 2. 4Market shareDecreasing global market share for BMW. It goes down from 2. 89% in 2005 to 2. 45% in 2010. (www. statista. com). This shows that demand BMW’s cars are decreasing which is a bad sign for company. 2. 3 Opportunities BMW 2. 3. 1 Utilizing the exist technology to produce more environmental friendly products: As this issue became an important for the society. (BMW Annual report, 2011, p. 19) states, â€Å" In September 2011, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers – a joint venture of the BMW Group and the SGL Group – opened a new state-of-the-art carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, USA.The facility plays a major strategic role in the manufacture of ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber reinfor ced plastics (CFRP), which will be used extensively in the BMW i vehicles to be launched by the BMW Group from 2013 onwards†. BMW group is already having this idea, but they could get more profit if they increase the art carbon fiber plants. 2. 3. 2 Growth in Asia: Asian countries are encouraging the foreign investment and they have a cheap labor. In addition, the cost of capital is cheaper than Europe. These factors lead to less cost of production and higher revenue.In order to gain this benefit BMW adopted â€Å"Completely Knocked Down† (CKD) assembly to manufacture automobiles with partners in six locations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Egypt, Indonesia and India (www. bmwgroup. com ). This would help BMW to attract the large Asian market as well as increase market share in the region. 2. 3. 3 Increasing demand on sports car BMW is already produced a few sport cars and they have to increase the number of sport cars and promote them to championships and customer s who like this type of cars. In July 2011,  BMW  pulled the covers off of the  BMW M3 DTM Concept Car, a vehicle that was to be the basis of the actual racer that will compete in the 2012 DTM season† (www. topspeed. com). 2. 3 Threats BMW 2. 3. 1 Euro zone crisis: Current economic slowdown along with sovereign euro zone crisis may tremendously hurt the company as sales are declining in Europe. It might pose even greater threat if bigger economies like Italy and Spain has to default like Greece which will lead Europe into a recession (World Economic Forum, 2012).It would not only affect BMW’s sales in Europe but also rest of the world because recession in the EU will have adverse effect in the world’s economy (International Monetary Fund, 2012). 2. 3. 2 Changes in Trend: Recent trend in the usage of car, where wealthy people prefer cheaper/affordable cars instead of luxurious car (24/7 Wall Street, 2012). Due to this trend, BMW as a luxurious car manufactur er might lose sales revenue and market share. Ultimately, it would have negative impact on the sustainability of the company. 2. . 3 Disputes with labour union: Labour union in Germany is very strong where firing employee is very costly (Global Competitiveness Index, 2012). Any dispute with the labour union could have significantly negative impact on the business operation as union could go for strike which will break the whole supply chain. 2. 4 PSA Peugeot Citroen 2. 4. 1 Strengths Peugeot 2. 4. 2 Sustainability of the company Company’s overall profitability significantly increased from very negative profitability in 2009(gross profit on sale -3. 0% and return on sale -5%) to a positive profitability in 2011 (gross profit on sale 17. 10% and return on sales 1. 50%), which demonstrates management’s extraordinary performance to bring the company back into a sustainable position. 2. 4. 3 Operating Efficiency Over the years from 2009 to 2011 Peugeot demonstrated continuo us improvement of its operating efficiency as management was improved efficiency to collect receivables (receivable turnover 20. 63 in 2009 and 26. 98) as well as increased inventory turnover (7. 14 in 2009 and 9. 06 in 2011) which is higher than industry norm (6. 4).Though receivables turnover is lower than industry norm (34), Peugeot’s continuous improvement indicates that management is paying attention to improve in order to maintain the capacity of operating assets. 2. 4. 4 Diversified business segments Diversification in the business segment reduces the risk of failure as it reduces company’s dependency on one single segment (The Economics Times, 2012) The Group's operations are organized in five main business segments: the Automotive Division, the Automotive Equipment Division, the Transportation & Logistics Division, the Finance Division and other businesses. These segments increased revenue by 6. % from â‚ ¬56061million in 2010 till â‚ ¬59912 million in 2 011 (Annual report BMW, 2011). Due to the diversified business segments Peugeot will be able to offset of one segment’s loss from other segment’s profit. 2. 4. 5 Investment in research and development To meet the current and future demand Peugeot invest heavily in research and development. This French auto manufacturer has maintained its R budget at â‚ ¬2152 million in 2011, or 3. 6% of revenue in order to secure sustainability in the future (www. peugeot. com). In 2011, PSA Peugeot Citroen was the most active patent filer in France with 1,237 patents in all.This performance demonstrates the positive outcome of its exceptional investment in R. New patents would enhance the innovative product line which would differentiate Peugeot’s product from its competitors in order to gain competitive advantage. This indicates better future for Peugeot. 2. 4. 6 Affordable price with good quality PSA Peugeot Citroen offers high quality distinctive cars for affordable price and specifically targets middle class (annual presentation 2010 PSA Peugeot Citroen). It would help Peugeot to gain market share faster in the emerging market such as China, Brazil and India where the number of middle class is very large.Higher market share in the emerging markets would strengthen Peugeot’s position in the global automotive industry. 2. 5 Weaknesses Peugeot 2. 5. 1 Creditworthiness Recently, Peugeot’s credit rating has been downgraded from â€Å"stable† to â€Å"negative† by both international credit rating agency Standard & Poor and Moody’s which would negative impact on creditors confidence. As a result, their interest rate will increase as creditors might feel risky to invest (Mustafa, 2012, Class lecture). However, French government’s â‚ ¬7b credit guarantee for Peugeot might help to maintain creditor’s confidence which will keep the interest expense stable. . 5. 2 Declining sales in Europe: Peugeot’s s ales declined by 5. 75% in 2010 in Europe, it’s largest market and it remained stable in 2011. Moreover, sales dropped further by 10. 8% by the end of September 2012 (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, 2012) It indicates a potential threat for Peugeot to losing market share in Europe, if it continues further. However, increasing sales outside Europe 39% in 2011 compare to 32% in 2010 (Annual Report Peugeot, 2011) could help Peugeot to maintain market share in the global automotive industry. 2. 5. 3 Liquidity Since 2009 to 2011 Peugeot’s liquidity has declined from 1. 07 to 1. 4 which even lower than the industry norm. Decrease in liquidity could have negative impact on the operating activities as firm might run out of cash to meet short term obligations. 2. 6 Threats Peugeot 2. 6. 1 Unionized labour market: French labour market is strongly unionized which give labour union a very strong bargaining power. The recent announcement by Peugeot to cut 800 0 jobs in their French plant (BBC News, 2012) might create disputes with the union. Therefore, there is a huge risk that union could go for strike due to the dispute with Peugeot which might disrupt their supply chain and cost a considerable amount for the company.However, French government’s announcement to provide credit guarantee in exchange to keep these jobs (The New York Times, 2012) would help Peugeot to avoid dispute with the union. 2. 6. 2 Euro zone crisis: Economic downturn and euro zone crisis had a very negative impact on Peugeot’s sales in Europe as the market demand declined sharply which resulted a decline in sales by 5% in 2010 and. If it continues may be the sales will drop further. 2. 6. 3 Competition from other producers: Increasing market share gained by other affordable car producers such as Hyundai could hurt Peugeot. There is a risk that French firm could lose market share. . 7 Opportunities Peugeot 2. 7. 1 New Trend Peugeot would be able to attr act customers with high income people due to the new trend as more rich people buy affordable price car (24/7 Wall Street, 2012) This is a very positive indicator for Peugeot to increase market share by attracting this large segments. 2. 7. 2 Market shift to globalization Peugeot is focusing on specific markets in the world. Since globalization is facilitating world trade, Peugeot would benefit significantly from it’s expansion to the emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Middle East (The New York Times, 2012). . 7. 3 Increase the demand of hybrid electric cars PSA Peugeot has a joint venter with GM to produce hybrid cars. The joint arrangement agreement was signed on 25 October 2011. The Group is committed to providing total capital of â‚ ¬63 million, of which â‚ ¬13 million had been paid as of 31 December 2011. Registered in the Netherlands. (Peugeot annual report 2011) 3. Comparison of BMW and Peugeot This section compares and contrasts of both company in order to identify the better option for investment. 3. 1 Sustainability Both BMW and Peugeot improved their gross profit.BMW is around 10% more profitable in terms of gross profit ratio compare to Peugeot. However, Peugeot had higher return on sales which indicates that management of Peugeot was more capable to control it’s variable cost. Peugeot was also able to generate higher return from its asset compare to BMW as well as industry norm this demonstrates the management’s ability to utilize its asset in order maintain sustainable profit. 3. 2 Management efficiency Management efficiency is lower than the industry norm for both companies. However, Peugeot’s management is more efficient than BMW in collecting receivables.It is also more efficient in inventory turnover, which indicates that Peugeot’s sales, and marketing department is performing better than BMW. 3. 3 Diversified business segments Peugeot’s business segments is more diversified that BMW th is would help Peugeot to reduce the risk because it can cover the loss of one segment from another segments profit. 3. 4 Market share Even though BMW has higher market share in certain market. However, it has declined gradually over the past several years while Peugeot has increased market share in the emerging markets such as China, Russia, India and Latin America. This indicates better future for Peugeot. . 5 Credit ratings BMW’s credit ratings are better than Peugeot because BMW’s credit ratings have been improved from negative to stable. On the other hand, Peugeot’s credit ratings have been downgraded in 2012 (Moody’s 2012) As a result Peugeot’s borrowing cost might increase while BMW will benefit from the lower interest rates. 3. 6 Interest coverage ratio BMW’s interest cover ability is considerably better than Peugeot, which is 9. 54 and 1. 68 respectively. Due to higher interest coverage ratio it will create more confidence in BMW, wh ich will reduce interest expense. 3. 7 Liquidity Liquidity for both companies is below industry average.However, Peugeot has higher liquidity than BMW. This indicates that Peugeot has better ability to cover the short-term obligations. 3. 8 New trend Demand for Peugeot cars would be higher than BMW due to the changes in trend and customer’s preferences as wealthy people are buying cheaper cars. However, increasing demand for sports car would provide benefit to BMW. 3. 9 Euro zone crisis Euro zone crisis has significantly affected on both companies. However, Peugeot has increased sales outside Europe from 32% in 2010 to 39% in 2011 while BMW lost 37% sales in 2011 in the US which is their biggest market.Due to the increasing sales outside Europe, Peugeot will be able to maintain overall sales revenue though there is decline in sales revenue in the European market. 3. 10 Political risk Political risk could negatively effect on both companies. However, BMW is more vulnerable in the Middle Eastern countries which are one of their biggest market due to Arab spring. 3. 11 R Both companies invested heavily in R but Peugeot was able to generate more patents than BMW. In 2011 Peugeot had in total 1237 patents (Annual Report 2011 Peugeot).Higher capability of invention would provide competitive advantage to Peugeot as it will be able to meet the consumers demand. 4. Recommendation The above analysis illustrates that both companies has strengths and weaknesses. However, Peugeot has more strength and opportunities than BMW. Peugeot’s strengths and opportunities are better sustainability, higher management efficiency, diversified business segments, better match with new trend and increasing market share in the emerging market. These strengths demonstrate that investment in Peugeot would be a better choice as the company’s future seems to be stronger and more sustainable than BMW.These also indicate that investment in Peugeot would be less risky. Theref ore, we recommend investing in Peugeot. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, different factors were investigated in order to come up with right decision regarding the investment in BMW or Peugeot. Some of these factors are related to profitability, efficiency, debt, R & D and market position. Some other factors are related to their products’ quality and customer satisfaction. All of these factors were analyzed for three years starting from 2009 to 2011. In addition, the SWOT analysis played an important role in our decision-making.However, after analyzing both companies’ situation and looking at their strengths and opportunities, Peugeot was the best choice to invest in. References BBC News (2012) Peugeot Citroen plans 8000 job cuts. Available at http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-18808662 [accessed 11 November 2012] Bloom, M. R. & Lafleur, B. (n. d. ) Turning Skills into Profit: Economic Benefit of Workplace Education Program. The Conference Board. Available at http://www. conferenceboard. ca/Libraries/EDUC_PUBLIC/Skills_Profits. sflb [accessed 10 November 2012] Murillo, R. H. & Martinek,C. J. (2009) Corporate Social Responsibility Can Be Profitable.The Regional Economist. Available at http://research. stlouisfed. org/publications/regional/09/04/socialresponsibility. pdf [accessed 8 November 2012] The Economics Times (2012) Nine Diversified Companies: Are these firm attractive investment proposition. Available at http://economictimes. indiatimes. com/features/slideshows/et-slideshows-made-here/nine-diversified-companies-are-these-firms-attractive-investment-propositions/nine-diversified-companies-are-these-firms-attractive-investment-propositions/quickiearticleshow/7390833. cms [accessed 5November 2012] The New York Times (2012) France to back Peugeot With 7 billion euro in credit.Available at http://www. nytimes. com/2012/10/24/business/global/france-to-back-peugeot-with-7-billion-euros-in-credit-guarantees. html? _r=0 [accessed 11 November 2012] Wo rld Economic Forum (2012) Global Competitiveness Report. Available at http://www3. weforum. org/docs/WEF_GCR_Report_2011-12. pdf [accessed 25 October 2012] International Monetary Fund (2012) Debt Crisis, as it happened. Available at http://www. telegraph. co. uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/9681567/Debt-crisis-as-it-happened-November-16-2012. html [accessed 16 November 2012] Appendices [pic] Figure 1: Source: [pic] Figure 2: Source: PSA Peugeot Citroen 2011 [pic]

African Americans and Slavery

African Americans and Slavery in the Revolutionary period The American Revolution was a time of great turmoil for all men and women in the United States. Great debates came and went during this time; slavery and the freedom of black men being the main problems in these debates. Slaves were used for a great number of things during the American revolutionary period. The arrival of slavery to the American colonies began in the 1600s and started out in Virginia.As the years passed more and more African-Americans were brought into the colonies to be used as labor workers. The beginning amount of slaves continued to grow and by the beginning of the revolution there were about 273,000 slaves spread throughout the American states. With the coming of the revolution all African-Americans, slave or free, knew something was coming and each had a different response to these comings. There were differences in the responses of slaves and free men during the American Revolution. There were also cons equences to their choices. Gaining freedom in a land of captivity and wresting equality from a society whose founding documents guarantee it has been the consuming desire and everlasting hope that has kept harrowed bodies and weary souls going. † In the southern states African-American slaves were treated harsher than those in the north. The plantations down south required back –breaking hours of work in the sun that White Americans believed could only be done by those they had bought. There was a reason for them to be there and until they could no longer work they were to do all things imaginable for their owners, no questions asked.Some of these slaves thought it was easier to run away from their owners and that in doing so they would have a chance to fight for their country. Slaves could either flee to the north or they could flee to Spanish owned Florida. In cases where a master was called upon to fight, they would send a slave in their place and if they lived long enough to return home they earned freedom. Many of the slaves decided that if they had a chance to gain their freedom by joining the war effort then they would gladly take their masters place.They also believed that with the beginning to the revolutionary period would bring a new deed to the land and when it was over there would no longer be a need for slaves. The consequences for slaves in the south were innumerable. Like many slaves, they took this time to run from slave masters and plantations. If these southern slaves were caught, depending on the owner, the slave could suffer mild to severe consequences. Depending on the demeanor of the owner a slave could be punished in several different ways. Whipping, branding, slapping, being dunked underwater, and kicking were just some forms of punishment.The most severe punishments were to cut off a body part like an ear in the hopes that the slave would learn and never run again. There were also â€Å"nice† slave owners that chos e not to punish their slaves. There justification for not punishing their slaves was so that they would continue to work and so that the owner could buy more slaves with the money that they continued to pool in from the work. Because of some owners that continuously harassed Washington, he stopped allowing slaves into his army. But General Washington, fearing rebellion, created an order that stated that all blacks were not allowed to fight.Later he partially reversed the order and allowed only free black men to fight with him. Some slaves believed that taking a chance to flee towards the north was a far-fetched idea. They were seeking freedom in the quickest possible way. Lord Dunmore sent out a proclamation that stated in exchange for freedom any black that came to him would fight against the patriots and become a loyalist. Dunmore’s promise of freedom fueled black slaves to escape and even some patriots fled to fight as a loyalist. After the war, true to his word, slaves ga ined their freedom.Some of these newly freed slaves went to Britain but many of them stayed in the Americas. On the other hand free men in the north believed the revolution would bring about change for the better. Their idea of the revolution was that they were being given the chance to gain independence from Great Britain and also for themselves. It was a defining moment in history that they were to be a part of. Fighting with white men gave these free black men a sense of honor and it also gave them a job where they could earn a little money to put towards getting homes and things of that nature.Men from the north gradually began to realize that they could fight with their brethren and bring independence to the land. General Washington passed an order stating that no black man was allowed into his army. This order came about because of general angst from some slave owners. These owners believed that there should not be any blacks fighting for the independence because they were onl y good for being slaves and they would never have say over anything. After some time Washington, fearing not having enough men to fight against the British, partially eversed this order to allow only free black men. Other than this there were not many consequences that are recorded for free black men. These free men not only fought for the independence of the nation but also for their independence and the independence of other black men and women. African-Americans from the north and south chose to join the continental army because they believed that they should help make the place the lived independent from a tyranny that had no say in the matters of a new country. They felt that this tyranny could take their rights and place them under unfair rule once again.Some of the freemen and slaves that had started out in the continental army decided to run to the British army but were not successful in their plights. Nash called the revolution the ‘greatest slave rebellion in America n history’ because it was just that. The revolution opened up new grounds for slaves to rebel against owners because it was the most opportune time for them to do so. â€Å"If any group within America’s diversified people came close to answering John Adams’s plea that ‘we must all be soldiers,’ it was black Americans.No part of revolutionary society responded to the call for arms with anywhere near the enthusiasm of those who were black. Proportionate to their number, African American males— and some females— were more likely to join the fray than white Americans. † According to this excerpt from another one of Nash’s books, African-Americans were much more adept to answering the plea of John Adams. If there were more African-American fighters than white that meant that more black males were subject to put themselves in danger in order to gain freedom.They would rather have one day of freedom, not knowing if they would di e in the next second, hour, or day, than be a slave for the rest of their lives. This is one of the reasons why Nash called the revolution the ‘greatest slave rebellion in American history’. â€Å"Desperate to fill the thinned ranks of its regiments, states offered freedom†¦ to serve during the continuance of the present war with Great Britain. Every black enlistee would be ‘immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free, as if he had never been encumbered with any kind of servitude or slavery. If states were desperate to have more men come into their ranks then there was nothing really stopping slaves from escaping their masters and coming to fight. They all wanted freedom from someone. Slaves wanted freedom from their bonds that were tied to the soil they worked and the Americans wanted freedom from Great Britain. Both groups had their reasons to fight and the only way slaves knew how to become free was to rebel a nd run to an army. This was a time for large rebellions on all fronts not just from the slaves.It was a rebellion against the British from the former colonists and a rebellion against the men and women that were taken from their homes to somehow create new ones. â€Å"It may have been, as Nash says ‘the greatest slave rebellion in American history,’ but for most of the rebels it ended like the others, in death. Slaves who supported the American side fared better, but not much better. Only with great reluctance did Washington allow some to join his army. Other Virginians had another wartime use for them.In 1780 the state legislature offered salves as a bounty for enlistment in the war against British tyranny. The revolution did see enactment of measures for gradual emancipation in the northern states, but the number who benefited was small. † My view on the American Revolution has changed somewhat because of how the African-Americans were treated during and after the period of war. The Americans act as though they had not been fighting alongside each other and because of this withhold distaste for the blacks.The completely disregard the idea that every man is created equal and has certain unalienable rights. They do not extend these ideas that were written down on the Declaration of Independence to the free black Americans. Men that had fought with and under Washington were not looked as the same because the color of their skin and were not given the same rights. Because of how they were treated I see the Revolution more as a war against Britain to save other whites from tyranny rather than to gain independence for all mankind. ——————————————– 1 ]. Gary B. Nash, The Forgotten Fifth: African Americans in the Age of Revolution (Harvard University: 2006), 1. [ 2 ]. Taymor, . â€Å"US History Documents. † Last modified 2005. Accessed J anuary 27, 2013. http://inside. sfuhs. org/dept/history/US_History_reader/Chapter2/Nashfighting. pdf. [ 3 ]. Taymor, . â€Å"US History Documents. † Last modified 2005. Accessed January 27, 2013. http://inside. sfuhs. org/dept/history/US_History_reader/Chapter2/Nashfighting. pdf. [ 4 ]. Edmund S. Morgan, review of The Unknown American Revolution: The